Hackers have broken into the servers of Anthem, a health insurance provider used by tens of millions of Americans. The hackers stole Social Security numbers, employment records, personal contact information and more. A veritable treasure trove for online fraudsters.
Anthem is the second-largest health insurer in the U.S. with about 70 million registered users. The company admitted late Wednesday that it had been completely hacked by criminals. “Tens of millions of records may have changed hands,” Anthem warned as a result of the hack .
If your plan is branded Anthem Blue Cross? Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield; Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia; Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield; Amerigroup; Caremore? Unicare? Healthlink; or DeCare, you are at risk – your data may have been taken by thieves.
Former Anthem customers are just as affected, the company says.
Anthem, based in Indianapolis, has hired security firm Mandiant to investigate the incident. According to the official FAQ, “no patient diagnostic records or credit card information were identified as compromised.”
The company has not yet confirmed when the databases were leaked or when the hackers managed to breach its systems. Last week, staff with high-level access to the company's systems suddenly lost access to the servers after hackers locked them out and changed their passwords.
So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, and the company says it is “doing everything it can to ensure there is no further vulnerability in its databases.”
